Top 5 Best Herbs For Treating The Flu

February 3, 2012

Natural News

By Christina Luisa

“It’s easy to prevent the flu. There are many different things you can do to avoid influenza – here are some herbs that will do the trick.” –KTRN

There are no known cures for the common flu but there are many natural flu remedies that are highly effective at easing flu symptoms and reducing the duration of the illness (http://www.naturalnews.com/026156.html). Certain herbs have been used as natural flu remedies for generations and can provide both protection from the flu and relief of symptoms. Here are the top five anti-flu herbs to keep around.

Echinacea
Results of archeological digs indicate that Native Americans may have used echinacea (echinacea purpurea) for more than 400 years to treat infections, snake bites and wounds, as well as a general “cure-all.”(http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/echinacea-000239.htm)

Scientific research has shown that the herb can keep immune systems healthy and strong, protecting it from common pathogens like the influenza virus. Research shows that echinacea extract works against an enzyme called hyaluronidase that destroys the body’s defenses against diseases. Studies also suggest that echinacea may be helpful in not only destroying viruses like certain strains of influenza but slowing tumor growth.

Elderberry
Elderberry (sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis) has been used for centuries as a tonic for colds, flu and sinus infections (http://cms.herbalgram.org/herbclip/388/news127.html). The seventeenth century herbalist, John Evelyn, referred to it as a remedy “against all infirmities what-so-ever.”

While elderberry has been used for many generations as a medicinal tea, it has also recently been discovered that the botanical contains viburnic acid, a compound that encourages perspiration and aids in detoxifying body tissues. This means that elderberry can help reduce fever, purify the blood and cleanse the body’s cells of pathogens.

Most of the elements that make up the elder flower have been used medicinally throughout history including the stems, leaves, berries and flowers. Israeli virologists have found that elderberry extract has proved to be specifically active against the influenza virus by blocking replication very effectively (http://www.naturalnews.com/022218.html). Elder has many other health attributes as well and is safe for consumption by children.

At the first sign of flu symptoms, take a hot infused homemade tea of elderberry tincture, yarrow and peppermint right before bed to induce sweating and promote a good night’s rest.

Click here for the full report.

Race On To Cover Up Details Of Lab Created Killer Bird Flu

December 21, 2011

Info Wars

By Steve Watson

“Why are deadly viruses being created in laboratories?  Here’s an idea – leave them alone.”  –KTRN

A highly contagious mutant strain of H5N1 bird flu that can be transmitted between mammals has been deliberately created at Rotterdam’s Erasmus Medical Centre, the London Independent reports.

Now plans to publish details of how the deadly virus was created in the lab are being castigated by government officials and health experts.

The findings were scheduled to be published in the US journal Science, however, officials at the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity have demanded that they be allowed to screen the details first.

“The worst-case scenario here is worse than anything you can imagine,” an anonymous senior US government advisor told the Independent.

“The fear is that if you create something this deadly and it goes into a global pandemic, the mortality and cost to the world could be massive.”

In comments to The London Telegraph, EU Health Commissioner John Dalli said that the Dutch government has assured him the virus is being kept secure.

“The Dutch authorities confirmed that the virus itself is stored in a very secured way and that the necessary permits were given and that the researchers are bound by a code of conduct,” Mr Dalli said.

“One of the issues … is to ensure that any information coming from this research is well controlled and without sensitive details about mutation being given,” he added.

The ultimate fear is that the virus could escape the lab, or be recreated somewhere else for nefarious purposes, such as a deadly bioweapon.

Click here for the full report.

Vitamin D Research Shows It Helps Cure Seasonal Conditions

December 15, 2011

Vitamin D Newsletter

By Dr. John Cannell

“Vitamin D3 is a mircle vitmain.  Since I started taking 5,000-10,000 IUs daily, I have gotten the flu or a cold.  Enough said.”  — Chris Davis KTRN

I realize that when I write for a journal that most of my readers cannot access my writing. This month the British Journal of Nutrition invited me to write an article; it is here, below. To put the article into context, my long-time readers will remember the excitement back in 2005 when I discovered that vitamin D appeared to prevent influenza.

Edgar Hope-Simpson was a self-taught young genius epidemiologist who turned into a gracious old man obsessed with his hypothesized ‘seasonal stimulus’ for epidemic influenza. He was the scientist who discovered the aetiology of shingles, but he was also the man who seemingly wasted the last 20 years of his life trying to untangle the manifold mysteries of influenza. Among his last written words, he cordially pleaded with the giants of influenzology, ‘it might be rewarding if persons, who are in a position to do so, would look more closely at the operative mechanisms that are causing such seasonal behaviour’. He died bereft of any recognition of his discovery that epidemiology of influenza is controlled by an unknown ‘seasonal stimulus’, whose character is dominated by a distinct aversion to sunlight.

Edgar Hope-Simpson had the rare gift of understanding the difference between fact and theory. For example, he knew that the statement, ‘children with rickets have frequent pneumonia because their rib cages are too weak to cough effectively’, contains one fact and one theory. Similarly, ‘influenza is more common in the winter due to overcrowding’, and ‘influenza is spread from person to person via respiratory droplets’, and ‘influenza spreads so rapidly because it is highly contagious’. He knew all these statements contain one fact and one theory and by distinguishing fact from theory, he wrote what is still the best book on influenza.

Indeed, his book led directly to two influenza publications from our group, the last one of which we used vitamin D to explain nine major conundrums of influenza. We predicted that vitamin D will both prevent and treat influenza, once modern medicine learns proper maintenance dosage(25mcg (1,000 IU/10 kg per day), not unlike the dosing of thyroxin.

The mechanism of action of vitamin D in preventing and treating various infections, a mechanism that led Science News to characterize vitamin D as the ‘the antibiotic vitamin’ has become evident only very recently. Both epithelial cells and macrophages increase expression of the antimicrobial cathelicidin upon exposure to microbes, an expression that is dependent upon the presence of vitamin D. Pathogenic microbes, much like the commensals that inhabit the upper airway, stimulate the production of a hydroxylase that converts 25(OH)D to 1,25(OH)2D, a seco-steroid hormone. This, in turn, activates a suite of genes involved in defense.

Click here for the full report.

Even Low Dose Vitamin D Slashes Flu Risk by Nearly Half

November 30, 2011

Natural Society

By Anthony Gucciardi

“Vitamin D3 is a miracle vitamin. Everyone should be taking is daily. Plus, it’s super cheap. If you buy it in the liquid serum variety, one drop is 2000 IUs. A bottle will last you more than 6 months for around $20. It’s a no brainier.” –KTRN

Vitamin D3, even when taken in low daily dosages, has been found to slash your risk of developing the flu by 42%. If optimal ranges of vitamin D intake were utilized, the percentage would most likely climb much higher.

While conducting the study, Mitsuyoshi Urashima and colleagues at the Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo administered only 1,200 IU of vitamin D daily to study participants. The researchers examined 430 children between the ages of 6 and 15 between December 2008 and March 2009. Half of the participants received vitamin D3 and the other half received a placebo.

Simply Taking Vitamin D3 Helps Tackle All Serious Flu Epidemics

At a dosage of 1,200 IUs per day, 334 of the children fully completed the study. In order to diagnose the presence of influenza Types A and B, researchers used nose and throat swabs on both groups. What they found was that only 18 of the children taking vitamin D3 were infected with influenza Type A, while the number rose to 31 in the placebo group.

The difference between the two groups regarding infection rates indicates a 42% decreased risk of developing the flu simply by taking vitamin D3. Interestingly, Type A influenza includes all serious flu epidemics, including seasonal flus and even the swine flu.

So if 1,200 IUs per day is low, what is the optimal daily dosage of vitamin D?

Amazingly, the children in the study are actually taking 1,300 IUs less than what is recommended to children by Canada’s Public Health Agency. According to the organization, children between the ages of 5 and 10 should be taking 2,500 IUs per day. In addition, the guidelines state that adults should be taking 5,000 IUs daily. Therefore, 1,200 IUs is not even adequate for young children.

Click here for the full report.

Prevent The Common Cold Or Flu

November 21, 2011

DrAxe.Com

By Dr. Josh Axe

“I used to get the flu at least once a year. But since I started doing all this ‘health stuff,’ I haven’t had a cold or a flu in almost four years. And that’s with no pharmaceutical drugs – not even aspirin.” –Chris Davis KTRN

Taking medications to treat or prevent cold and flu symptoms does just that: they only address the symptoms. The underlying cause of the illness is still present in your body. What you have done by suppressing the symptoms is ignore your body’s warning signs that something is amiss and your immune system is having to work overtime. The synthetic medications also add to the toxic burden your body already has to deal with every day.

Instead of waiting until you experience these cold and flu symptoms, your best bet is to build up and strengthen your body’s natural defense mechanism–your immune system. If you do still experience cold and flu symptoms, don’t worry. Your body always does the right thing at the right time. A cough means your body needs to rid itself of mucus. A fever means the body needs to raise its temperature to kill a virus. Learn to recognize these symptoms as natural processes of the body.

As I’m sure you know, I definitely do NOT recommend you get a flu shot as a preventative measure for the flu. These vaccines educate your immune system in an improper and unnatural manner and often contain dangerous chemicals and preservatives.

There are a number of vitamins, minerals and herbs that will naturally boost your immune system, which will be much more effective at preventing or fighting off a cold or flu. It’s important to remember, though, that herbal supplements should not be taken for an extended period of time.
Herbal Supplements

Brewer’s Yeast

Brewer’s yeast contains B vitamins, chromium and protein. It is used for cold, flu and other respiratory tract infections.
Brewer’s yeast stimulates intestinal enzymes to help relieve diarrhea, fights bacteria in the intestines and improves immune response to viruses that infect the lungs.
Research has found that Brewer’s yeast reduces the risk of getting a cold or the flu and helps symptoms dissipate more quickly.

Echinacea

Echinacea acts as an anti-inflammatory, which can help reduce bronchial symptoms of cold and flu.
Echinacea directly attacks yeast and other kinds of fungus.
Different preparations have different concentrations of Echinacea. Some common preparations and dosages include:
Tablets containing 6.78 milligrams of Echinacea extract, two tablets 3 times a day.
900 milligrams of Echinacea root tincture daily.
5-6 cups of Echinacea tea on the first day of symptoms, and then 1 cup a day thereafter.

Elderberry

The flowers and berries of elderberry is said to boost the immune system, treat flue and relieve sinus pain.
Elderberry does seem to attack flu viruses and reduce bronchial inflammation. A preliminary study found that it reduced severity and length of flu symptoms when given at the first signs of symptoms.

Garlic

Garlic has antibiotic and antibacterial properties. In a recent study, people that took a garlic supplement for 12 weeks got about 60% fewer colds than those who didn’t and recovered faster if they did get a cold.
The best way to take garlic, aside from adding it liberally to your dishes when you cook, is to swallow a raw clove. You might need to cut it in half if it is too large. Bite down once to release the allicin, then swallow with water like a pill.
If you find this method too odorous, garlic capsules are fine to take as well.

Olive Leaf

Olive leaf is proving to have potent anti-viral properties and is often prescribed for cold and flu. It also acts as an anti-inflammatory.

Click here for the full report from Dr. Axe.

Can Probiotics Replace The Flu Shot?

November 16, 2011

Natural News

By Len Saputo

“Ever since I started eating organic food, detoxing, supplementing myself with non-synthetic vitamins, avoiding high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, and refusing to take any type of pharmaceutical drug (even aspirin), guess how many times I’ve gotten the flu? You guessed it right. Zero.  It looks like probiotics might help as well – I take those too.” — Chris Davis – KTRN

We now know the real reason why children hospitalized with swine flu have been at risk for dying. It is not because of the swine flu virus itself! Most of them contracted methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections that they passively harbored in their nasal passages before contracting the swine flu. While swine flu itself can cause death, it is far less common than when MRSA is present; about eight times less common! Most children with MRSA pneumonias have been carriers of MRSA; their MRSA pneumonias are not hospital acquired infections most of the time.

What would happen if these swine flu infected children were no longer carriers of MRSA? Would they be at a far lower risk of developing MRSA pneumonias and of dying from them? You bet! Is there a way to get rid of the MRSA that so often colonize the nasal passages? Yes, indeed! Would it work as well as the swine flu vaccine? Quite possibly!

Because of the overuse of antibiotics we’re seeing the rise of microbes such as MRSA and C. difficile in the “normal” flora of healthy people. These microbes, although potentially lethal, do not make sufficient quantities of toxins to make us sick unless they overgrow and are present in sufficient volume. However, when we become ill and our resistance is low, these microbes then begin to overgrow, produce large amounts of endotoxin, and create the disastrous consequences we hear about.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if we could markedly reduce the numbers of these microbes when people are healthy? Probiotics are now being used in mainstream medicine to control the microflora of both the gut and the vagina. Why couldn’t we use probiotics in a nasal spray to displace MRSA and C. difficile? This would be a novel way to crowd out these potentially dangerous microbes. We could lower the risk of death from MRSA in children with swine flu who are in the ICU by 800% by chasing out MRSA and C.difficile from the nasopharynx by using probiotics.

Baxter Recalls 300,000 Flu Vaccines For Serious Adverse Reactions

November 10, 2011

Natural News

By Jonathan Benson

“If you take a flu shot, as Kevin would say, you are an ignoramus.” –KTRN

Baxter Healthcare Corp. has announced it is recalling roughly 300,000 doses of its Preflucel influenza vaccine due to what it says is an excessive number of adverse events. Baxter is the same drug company that was caught inserting Avian Flu Virus into flu vaccines back in 2009 (http://www.naturalnews.com/025760.html).

The UK’s Daily Mail reports that a high number of individuals injected with an apparently tainted batch of Preflucel have been reporting side effects like fatigue, muscle pain, and headaches. The vaccine, which was crafted specifically for those with egg allergies, has only been in use since March when it was first approved for use in the UK.

“The vaccine is being recalled because these side effects have been reported more frequently with this specific batch,” said a Baxter spokesmen. This spokesman also attempted to reassure the public that those who have already been vaccinated with Preflucel “should not be concerned (for their safety).”

At the same time, however, Baxter has instructed healthcare providers not to administer any more Preflucel, no matter what batch it came from, to patients. And since this announcement, many European countries where the vaccine was distributed have ceased using it, and have instead switched to various alternatives.

Click here for the full report from Natural News.

Medical Industry Admits Current Flu Shots Are Useless

November 8, 2011

Natural News

By Ethan A. Huff

The medical community is in the process of unveiling a “universal” influenza vaccine that it claims will prevent all flu strains with a single jab. The only problem is that, in the process, the system has inadvertently admitted that current flu shots are medically useless because they fail to target the correct flu strain in many cases, and they do not stimulate a natural flu-fighting immune response even when the strain is a match.

A recent report by CBS 11 News in Dallas / Fort Worth explains that researchers from the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas have identified a compound they say spurs the growth of a key protein known as REDD-1, which prevents cells from becoming infected. By injecting this compound into patients, REDD-1 will increase, say the researchers, and thus effectively prevent any strain of flu from taking hold.

But what about current flu vaccines? Dr. Beatrice Fontoura, one of the head researchers involved with the new universal flu shot, explained to CBS 11 that it works differently than current flu shots because it “stimulates our own (immune) response which is already there and boost[s] it to fight an infection.”

In other words, flu shots being sold today at pharmacies across the country do not actually promote natural immunity at all, which begs an important question. If current flu shots do not boost the immune response, then what, exactly, are they good for?

Click here for the full report from Natural News.

Vaccine Study Reveals Influenza Vaccines Only Prevent The Flu In 1.5 Out Of 100 Adults (Not 60% As You’ve Been Told)

November 1, 2011

Natural News

By Mike Adams

A new scientific study published in The Lancet reveals that influenza vaccines only prevent influenza in 1.5 out of every 100 adults who are injected with the flu vaccine. Yet, predictably, this report is being touted by the quack science community, the vaccine-pushing CDC and the scientifically-inept mainstream media as proof that “flu vaccines are 60% effective!”

This absurd claim was repeated across the mainstream media over the past few days, with all sorts of sloppy reporting that didn’t even bother to read the study itself (as usual).

NaturalNews continues to earn a reputation for actually READING these “scientific” studies and then reporting what they really reveal, not what some vaccine-pushing CDC bureaucrat wants them to say. So we purchased the PDF file from The Lancet and read this study to get the real story.

The “60% effectiveness” claim is a total lie – here’s why
What we found is that the “60% effectiveness” claim is utterly absurd and highly misleading. For starters, most people think that “60% effectiveness” means that for every 100 people injected with the flu shot, 60 of them won’t get the flu!

Thus, the “60% effectiveness” claim implies that getting a flu shot has about a 6 in 10 chance of preventing you from getting the flu.

This is utterly false.

In reality — and this is spelled out right in Figure 2 of the study itself, which is entitled, “Efficacy and effectiveness of influenza vaccines: a systematic review and meta-analysis” — only about 2.7 in 100 adults get the flu in the first place!

See the abstract at:

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/l…

Flu vaccine stops influenza in only 1.5 out of 100 adults who get the shots
Let’s start with the actual numbers from the study.

The “control group” of adults consisted of 13,095 non-vaccinated adults who were monitored to see if they caught influenza. Over 97% of them did not. Only 357 of them caught influenza, which means only 2.7% of these adults caught the flu in the first place.

The “treatment group” consisted of adults who were vaccinated with a trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine. Out of this group, according to the study, only 1.2% did not catch the flu.

The difference between these two groups is 1.5 people out of 100.

So even if you believe this study, and even if you believe all the pro-vaccine hype behind it, the truly “scientific” conclusion from this is rather astonishing:

Flu vaccines only prevent the flu in 1.5 out of every 100 adults injected with the vaccine!

Note that this is very, very close to my own analysis of the effectiveness vaccines as I wrote back in September of 2010 in an article entitled, Evidence-based vaccinations: A scientific look at the missing science behind flu season vaccines (http://www.naturalnews.com/029641_v…)

In that article, I proclaimed that flu vaccines “don’t work on 99 out of 100 people.” Apparently, if you believe the new study, I was off by 0.5 people out of 100 (at least in adults, see below for more discussion of effectiveness on children).

Click here for the full report from Natural News.

Vaccine Study Reveals Influenza Vaccines Only Prevent The Flu In 1.5 Out Of 100 Adults

October 27, 2011

Natural News

By Mike Adams

A new scientific study published in The Lancet reveals that influenza vaccines only prevent influenza in 1.5 out of every 100 adults who are injected with the flu vaccine. Yet, predictably, this report is being touted by the quack science community, the vaccine-pushing CDC and the scientifically-inept mainstream media as proof that “flu vaccines are 60% effective!”

This absurd claim was repeated across the mainstream media over the past few days, with all sorts of sloppy reporting that didn’t even bother to read the study itself (as usual).

NaturalNews continues to earn a reputation for actually READING these “scientific” studies and then reporting what they really reveal, not what some vaccine-pushing CDC bureaucrat wants them to say. So we purchased the PDF file from The Lancet and read this study to get the real story.

The “60% effectiveness” claim is a total lie – here’s why
What we found is that the “60% effectiveness” claim is utterly absurd and highly misleading. For starters, most people think that “60% effectiveness” means that for every 100 people injected with the flu shot, 60 of them won’t get the flu!

Thus, the “60% effectiveness” claim implies that getting a flu shot has about a 6 in 10 chance of preventing you from getting the flu.

This is utterly false.

In reality — and this is spelled out right in Figure 2 of the study itself, which is entitled, “Efficacy and effectiveness of influenza vaccines: a systematic review and meta-analysis” — only about 2.7 in 100 adults get the flu in the first place!

Flu vaccine stops influenza in only 1.5 out of 100 adults who get the shots.  Let’s start with the actual numbers from the study.

The “control group” of adults consisted of 13,095 non-vaccinated adults who were monitored to see if they caught influenza. Over 97% of them did not. Only 357 of them caught influenza, which means only 2.7% of these adults caught the flu in the first place.

The “treatment group” consisted of adults who were vaccinated with a trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine. Out of this group, according to the study, only 1.2% did not catch the flu.

The difference between these two groups is 1.5 people out of 100.

So even if you believe this study, and even if you believe all the pro-vaccine hype behind it, the truly “scientific” conclusion from this is rather astonishing:

Flu vaccines only prevent the flu in 1.5 out of every 100 adults injected with the vaccine!

Note that this is very, very close to my own analysis of the effectiveness vaccines as I wrote back in September of 2010 in an article entitled, Evidence-based vaccinations: A scientific look at the missing science behind flu season vaccines.

In that article, I proclaimed that flu vaccines “don’t work on 99 out of 100 people.” Apparently, if you believe the new study, I was off by 0.5 people out of 100 (at least in adults, see below for more discussion of effectiveness on children).

So where does the media get “60% effective?”
This is called “massaging the numbers,” and it’s an old statistical trick that the vaccine industry (and the pharmaceutical industry) uses over and over again to trick people into thinking their useless drugs actually work.

First, you take the 2.73% in the control group who got the flu, and you divide that into the 1.18% in the treatment group who got the flu. This gives you 0.43.

You can then say that 0.43 is “43% of 2.73,” and claim that the vaccine therefore results in a “57% decrease” in influenza infections. This then becomes a “57% effectiveness rate” claim.

The overall “60% effectiveness” being claimed from this study comes from adding additional data about vaccine efficacy for children, which returned higher numbers than adults (see below). There were other problems with the data for children, however, including one study that showed an increase in influenza rates in the second year after the flu shot.

So when the media (or your doctor, or pharmacist, or CDC official) says these vaccines are “60% effective,” what they really mean is that you would have to inject 100 adults to avoid the flu in just 1.5 of them.

Or, put another way, flu vaccines do nothing in 98.5% of adults.

But you’ve probably already noticed that the mainstream media won’t dare print this statistical revelation. They would much rather mislead everybody into the utterly false and ridiculous belief that flu vaccines are “60% effective,” whatever that means.

Click here for the full report from Natural News.

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